Vibrant history of Groznjan town
Exploring old village of Groznjan, Istria Croatia Grožnjan has always been a place of interest for all those who settled or governed it because of its vibrant history. It also has a great geographical and natural position. Celtic and Liiyrian tribes that settled it before the Roman invasion in 2nd century B.C. can be found in the surrounding area. They left a lot of traces of this old civilisation. In 539 it fell under the Byzantine rule. Its inhabitants lived from agriculture in that time, crafts and trade. One way of communication with the world was their river Mirna and its port. The fortified town Grožnjan is first mentioned in 1102 when Margrave Ulrich II bestowed all his property to the Patriarch of Aquileia. Grožnjan and its surrounding territory was governed by Venice from 1358 to 1797. Grožnjan Captain Pietro Dolgin moved to his new headquarters in 1359 and so in 1367 and 1360 he ordered the repair of the town palace and fortification walls, so the defence of the town would be stronger. Seeing as the captaincy had been moved in 1349 to Rašpor, Grožnjan was governed by a Venetian nobleman who had a title of a potestate.
Groznjan was proclaimed as City of Artists
In 1558 Grožnjan got its own Statute. Grožnjan was governed by the Imperial France after the fall of the Venetian Republic, the Austrian Empire, the Kingdom of Italy and the SFR of Yugoslavia. Since 1358 Grožnjan has had the status of free municipality. The only hiatus happened between 1955 and 1993, in those times it was proclaimed again as municipality.
Grožnjan was proclaimed 'city of artists', since 1969 it has been the international cultural centre of JEUNESSES MUSICALES CROATIA, and it has the status of a world youth centre. The town has a great rich cultural program with numerous artists that permanently or temporarily resident Grožnjan and its surroundings, they are known as the Grožnjan Art Circle, their work can be seen in the town gallery 'Fonticus' or in other private galleries. Town of Grožnjan offers interesting tourist destinations where many events are organized all around the year such as the international painting festival Ex tempore or the jazz festival 'Jazz is Back' along the way with many other concerts, exhibitions and other artistic courses. Grožnjan has become a member of the associations 'Citta del vino' which means Cities of Wine and Cities of Olive Oil.
The Castle or Kaštel was first mentioned in 1102. Kaštel was the seat of many different feudal lords until 1359, when it became the residence of Venetian protestates and captains. Traces of former partitions are visibleon the southern side. Kaštel's current visual appearance dates from the 19th century. Inside it has a concert hall that provides the headquarters of the INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL CENTRE OF JEUNESSES MUSICALES CROATIA.
Kalcini tunnel - former railway of Parenzana
The Kalcini Tunnel is 178,76 m long and here the Parenzana line reaches its highest point. The tunnel was used for mushroom cultivation after the railway's clousure. In the tunnel are perfect conditions for champignon growing, the tunnels are called Parenzana tunnels and these noble mushrooms still thrive in the St. Vitus Tunnel.
The station of Grožnjan was situated between the St. Vitus and the Kalcini Tunnels, at the village of Stanica. The second-class station building, built of average stone blocks is still recognizable. As long as the station master's family lived there, the house had a nice garden and was overgrown with climbers, so it was pretty similar to a small rural villa. In the lobby it had a waiting room, it was furnished with comfortable benches. There were toilets in the auxiliary buildings a store room, an ironing room and an enclosure for a farm animals. In addition to the material and tools for the maintenance of the line the station also had a warehouse. They used a typical rail-cycle a trolley with four wheels, used by track supervisors.